Report: Amazon boosts air freight capacity with small carrier

Report: Amazon boosts air freight capacity with small carrier

Amazon is reportedly turning to a non-traditional partner to build out its Amazon Prime air fleet.

According to CNBC, Amazon has signed a contract with Sun Country Airlines, a small leisure carrier based in Minneapolis, to lease 10 converted Boeing 737-800 planes in the second quarter of 2020. Sun Country executives told CNBC the company will transport cargo for Amazon to help meet the challenge of seasonal fluctuations in demand for leisure flights.

For Amazon, the agreement is the latest step in the retailer’s efforts to bolster its capacity for its Prime Air aerial delivery service as it prepares to make good on a promise to shift the standard shipping time for free Amazon Prime deliveries from two days to one day. In October 2019, Amazon opened a regional air hub at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport in Texas. This is the first build-to-suit airport project of its kind in the e-tail giant’s Amazon Air network and was designed to support Amazon Air’s larger-scale regional needs, including sortation capability and infrastructure to handle multiple flights daily.

In May 2019, Amazon said a new air hub will open in Hebron, Kentucky at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 2021. During its April 2019 earnings call, Amazon announced it will spend $800 million to support faster free Prime shipping, but did not offer a specific timeline.